St. Norbert players, coaches honored

The St. Norbert College men’s and women’s basketball team had banner years, and the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association honored the program’s coaches accordingly.

Green Knights men’s coach Gary Grzesk and women’s coach Connie Tilley were each selected as the NCAA Division III coaches of the year in the state for 2015-16.

St. Norbert women’s assistant staff, consisting of Riley Woldt, Bri Hauge and Kheenan Halvorson, was named Wisconsin College Assistant Staff of the Year.

Grzesk led St. Norbert to a 25-3 overall record, including an unbeaten Midwest Conference campaign for the third consecutive season. The Green Knights finished ranked No. 8 in the D3hoops.com top 25 and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 1984.

Tilley and her staff led SNC to a 21-5 overall record, an unbeaten Midwest Conference campaign (the first for any program since 1998) and berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament for the third time in a row.

Football

St. Norbert has named Pat McAvoy offensive coordinator, head football coach Dan McCarty announced Wednesday.

McAvoy was the offensive coordinator at UW-Stout in 2014 and 2015, while also handling strength and condition duties.

Prior to that, he spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coaching the offensive line at Northern Illinois, his alma mater, where he was a four-year letterwinner fullback for the Huskies.

Baseball

St. Norbert junior pitcher Jake McMahon and sophomore third baseman Tyler Banovich each earned All-Central Region honors from D3baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association.

McMahon was a first-team all-region pick by D3baseball.com and a second-team choice by the ABCA, while Banovich was a second-team all-region selection by both bodies.

McMahon, a Marinette native, went 5-5 overall this season with a 2.26 earned run average and .223 batting average against. In 75 2/3 innings pitched, he allowed 62 hits and 14 walks with 63 strikeouts. McMahon’s nine complete games this season is a St. Norbert single-season record and tied for second-most in NCAA Division III this past season.

Banovich, a Midlothian, Ill., native, hit .436 with nine doubles, two triples, one home run and 41 RBI.

St. Norbert finished 20-17 and placed third in the Midwest Conference Tournament.

Academics

St. Norbert recently graduated seniors Austin Livingston and Brad Boockmeier were named to the NCAA Division III Men’s Track and Field/Cross Country Academic All-District VI Team, presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Livingston, a Kimberly High grad, also earned the NCAA Elite 90 Award, given to a student-athlete with the top grade point average participating in each of the 90 championships the NCAA sponsors. Livingston’s honor is the first for St. Norbert.

Cooper helped lead the Green Knights to a NCAA Division III Frozen Four berth and national runner-up finish. He had 13 goals and 23 assists in 31 games and was a finalist for the 2016 Sid Watson Award, given to the national player of the year.